cottington's so crafty: tin can knits

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Reaching for the [Dog] Stars: Tin Can Knits

It has been a year and a million since Tiberius has been featured in a blog post. Poor little guy.

Of course, he cares NOT at all, aha, but I feel bad, of course. Lately, he has been wearing his sister's old sweaters, which works out nicely, but I knew he was going to be too large for at least one of them, and one pullover left simply can't be enough!!! So, he clearly need another - in the form of the Dog Star by Tin Can Knits. It came out last year, and for some reason, when their new collection, Strange Brew, came out recently, I thought it was part of that, aha!

The pattern is crazy easy, naturally, though the wording for the short rows is a bit weird, or maybe my stitch marker placement was off to begin with, which doesn't make sense. Either way, I knit the sweater alllll the way through binding off, then I realized my short rows were off - to the side of the back. No bueno, clearly, so, I had to rip out my sewn bind-off then re-do all of that, no biggie in the end, I know, but still sad. I then proceeded to knit back through the neck ribbing with my main needle, rather than sizing down, so, I had to rip out the ribbing a second time. I have no idea what was happening. Crazy town.

The pattern calls for needle sizes 6 and 4, and I used 4s and 2.5s. I knew I was knitting at a tighter gauge, but I liked my fabric, so, I knit the size 2/4 width and the size 4/6 length, no big deal. The yardage called for was quite high, and I was concerned I didn't have enough yarn, so, I added color work to the bottom of the sweater, which wasn't a big deal in the end, as I found another skein of the main color. In the end, though, it's nice I didn't crack into that extra skein, but even then, the yardage called for seems excessive, as I think I used two skeins of Cascade Heathers for the main color, River Rock, which is only 440 yards. I also used colorways Pacific and Summer Sky and sort of winged it for color placement.

I love how the sweater turned out, and it was actually my FIRST time knitting with Cascade Heathers.... I think, anyway! I could be lying, aha! The fabric is great, and I am glad it'll fit through next winter, because of the length, though I probably did make the cuffs a bit snug. I like a snug cuff, but hmmm... maybe I went a bit far, aha. (Secretly, another great thing is that I used FREE stash yarn, as someone had given this to me!!)

Some days...including Halloween - for which Matt receives most of the credit. He made their costumes, though I did make Tiberius a pair of Oliver and S Field Trip Cargo Pants, minus the cargo pockets.

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Flax Light, AKA the Sweater She Will Wear for Years

I feel like this is the first thing I've finished knitting in FOUR HUNDRED YEARS.

Which.... isn't true, but you know. Finishing a sweater always feels awesome. I have knit a pair of socks, but who knows where those are.... definitely weren't worn in the the heat of the summer. We'll worry about those later.

Back to the sweater: I was so excited to finally whip up a new pull-over for Camden, in order for her to wear right away for the school year, but sadly, that won't be the case. It's lovely, and it fits around her well, but length-wise, it's insane. I knit the size 8/10 in the Flax Light pattern by Tin Can Knits, and it is definitely more of a 10 in length. With superwash growth, it is probably a good 2 inches longer than it should be. I knit to the pattern specs, maybe a smidge over. Not a huge deal, but is definitely too long for her.

I have knit the Flax pattern before, as evidenced at the bottom of THIS post, but this was my first time knitting Flax Light. The pattern is lovely and easy to follow, of course, but I do wish they'd include short row shaping at the neck. For some reason, whenever I try to add short row shaping to a pattern, I can't figure out if I'm doing it correctly, even after watching YouTube videos and checking web-sites, LOL. I struggle. It looks fine, though, I think. Other than that, my gauge was a tad loose, which was annoying, as I swore I should have been fine knitting with a size 3 needle. The sweater is done, though, which is what matters the most, probably.

I think the yarn is so gorgeous, too! I had Amanda over at the Knit Cute Podcast and Lamby Toes Yarn custom dye this yarn for me, and she did a great job. I ordered three skeins and have a ton left over, after having alternated between two skeins and using the last skein for the sleeves. This is another reason I wish I had knit at a slightly denser gauge; I feel I didn't do the yarn enough justice, aha! It's still super pretty, though, and I can only hope the head hole and chest fit Camden super well two years from now, when the length fits better.

Showing length here....but her face, LOL

As for what we have been up to - it's been a summer of loveliness! We flew to Michigan for a quick family visit; it was Tiberius's first time flying, which was super exciting, though the kids may have been more impressed by the shuttle bus at the airport, aha. We also went camping a couple times, Camden has had a couple of sleepovers, and then the Michigan cousins came to visit US - yay!!! Camden starts school next week, if the district strike is over, and I have sewn up a fancy dress for the first day, so, I can't wait to show that off after I have photos! Also, a ton of house work has been sprinkled in. I can't wait to show off my sewing room when it's a bit more "done," so to speak. Matt has been working hard at his regular job, and he works on the house whenever he can. This weekend, he was working on the kitchen tile. We moved in about June 25, so, getting the tile done now is exciting!!! I hope it can be all grouted tomorrow - and that he can add the window trim soon!